Persecution of Academician V. M. Peretts and criticism of his philological school in early 1930's (according to archival documents)

Abstract

The aim of the research. Based on the analysis of a wide range of archival sources, epistolary documents and published materials display the process of persecution of Academician V. M. Peretts and criticism of his philological school at the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in the early 1930's. The methodology research is based on the principles of historicism, concreteness, scientific objectivity and dialectical approach. Biographical, problem-chronological and comparative-historical methods and the method of textual analysis have been applied. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the involvement in the scientific circulation of a set of archival documents on the activities of the Commission of Ukrainian Writing of Feudalism Period of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and Epistolary Heritage of Ukrainian Philologists, stored in the Institute of Manuscripts and the Institute of Archival Studies of the V. I. Vernadskyi National Library of Ukraine. The analysis of the documents made it possible to supplement the information about the activities and persecution of Academician V. M. Peretts and the criticism of his philological school during the formation of the totalitarian regime in Ukraine. Conclusions. The persecution of V. M. Peretts in the early 1930's was initiated by the party bodies of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and had political reasons, for he was considered one of the leaders among those scientists who opposed the influence of political factors on scientific activity. The drama of persecution for V. M. Peretts was exacerbated by the fact that criticism of the activities of the scientist and the positions of the philological school created by him was conducted by his subordinates and pupils, who could not withstand pressure from the party chapter of the academy. As a researcher of the history of ancient Ukrainian literature, V. M. Peretts was accused of "Ukrainian bourgeois nationalism" and deprived of the opportunity to be published in Ukraine. Being under constant criticism from party figures, without the support of colleagues and pupils and without finding understanding from the leadership of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, V. M. Peretts did not admit the baseless accusations against him. Before the arrest, V. M. Peretts conducted ideologically unbiased Ukrainian studies at the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences.

Keywords

• v. m. peretts, all-ukrainian academy of sciences, commission of ukrainian writing of feudalism period, kyiv philological school, persecution of ukrainian scientists, epistolary documents.